Made for Europe

Cost and risk-effective sourcing from new markets

Neutral, competent, cost-effective

You are planning to import? Fresh fruit and vegetables? Cut flowers? Technical wood? Natural ingredients for foods, pharmaceutics, cosmetics? We have the contacts you need and are at your side throughout the entire sourcing process.

We network you with the right exporters.

Accessing new sources of supply is labour intensive and time consuming. There are plenty of risks and unknowns. You  can reduce your initiation, agreement and control costs with the Import Promotion Desk. Gain certainty and time as we have the contacts, information and communication channels to your new foreign suppliers.

Hand in hand with the German private sector

The IPD is an initiative of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (Bundesverband Großhandel, Außenhandel, Dienstleistungen e.V.) and sequa gGmbH – the development organisation of German industry. We are funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Product Groups

News

IPD sets off into the third project phase
In the upcoming three years, the IPD will extend its activities to promote imports. The extension of the project by the BMZ shows that the IPD's import promotion is having an impact.

»Our recipe for success is to focus on sustainability«

Interview with Dr. Julia Hoffmann – Head of Import Promotion Desk
Dr. Julia Hoffmann explains why supporting exports is an essential instrument in international development cooperation and outlines the IPD’s strategy for opening up the German and European markets to developing countries.

Read the entire interview

»With the IPD we are closing a strategic gap at the interface of development cooperation and foreign trade: By eliminating trade barriers and information deficits, we contribute to the improved participation of emerging and developing countries in the global economy, but also support German SMEs in developing new procurement markets.«

Gregor Wolf
Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA)

»It is important for developing countries and emerging nations to integrate into international value chains and thus obtain access to new sales markets. This is where the IPD makes a valuable contribution: it opens the German and European market to producers from these regions.«

Anja Gomm
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

»Organisations such as the IPD are valuable tools for the economy not only in Germany but also in partner countries. The IPD provides German importers with information and connects them with suppliers. Even more important is the fact that the IPD and its partner organisations evaluate the suppliers and the information beforehand and therefore minimize the risk for European importers. For exporters from foreign countries, the IPD is an excellent platform to present their products and to get in contact to potential clients.«

Christian Körting Pacheco
Biomaderas GmbH

"One should think that with today's technical facilities it is easy to find new suppliers and customers in other countries. In reality,  this is a time-consuming and personnel-intensive effort. The IPD offers ideal networking opportunities in a wide range of sectors, facilitating, for instance in the wood sector, the establishment of new and safe commercial relationships with emerging and developing countries."

Nils Olaf Petersen
Gesamtverband Deutscher Holzhandel e.V.

»The import of food as a primary commodity for the processing industry up to the final product plays a vital role when it comes to enabling consumers to choose from a variety of tasty and safe foods. An interface such as the IPD promotes and supports business contacts between importers and exporters and thus creates an ideal platform for mutual trade relationships which are the foundation for a diverse and healthy food supply.«

Dr. Helena Melnikov
Waren-Verein der Hamburger Börse e.V.

»Exporters from emerging markets and developing countries and importers from Europe depend on all types of support from associations, Chambers of Industry and Commerce and other BMOs.The IPD is another useful tool to bring partners from Germany and abroad together.«

Hans Udo Bürk
Biotropic GmbH

»Numerous companies from the German nutrition industry depend on the import of high-quality food products.  Many of these raw materials cannot be grown in Germany at all or only to an insufficient extent. The Import Promotion Desk can play an important role in the establishment of a mutually satisfactory collaboration between food importers from Germany and reliable food exporters from selected commodity markets.«

Olivier Kölsch
Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Ernährungsindustrie e.V.

News

Bonn/Staelen // 0507.2019
4th BGI Cut Flower Day: New sources for international imports
 
Bonn/Staelen // 0507.2019

4th BGI Cut Flower Day: New sources for international imports

"Re-thinking import activities" - this is the title of the 4th Cut Flower Day organised by the "Association of the German Flower Wholesale and Import Trade" (BGI), which this time took place in cooperation with the IPD. Currently, around 90 percent of cut flower imports are delivered via the Netherlands. Despite, the interest on the part of German wholesalers and retailers and their readiness for direct imports is large. This was confirmed by this year's Cut Flower Day, where IPD presented new study results on the export potential and the demand situation for cut flowers from the IPD partner countries. Further, IPD took the opportunity to talk to florists about the demands they place on their partners and their quality standards.

Further information on the Cut Flower Day can be found here.

Bonn/Cologne // 03.04.2019
interzum 2019: Indonesian light-weight wood is an alternative to classical materials
 
Bonn/Cologne // 03.04.2019

interzum 2019: Indonesian light-weight wood is an alternative to classical materials

Import Promotion Desk presents high-quality light-weight wood products from Indonesia at interzum 2019 in Cologne

Bonn/Berlin, 03.04.2019 – High-quality timber products from Indonesian light-weight wood will be presented at this year’s interzum. Exhibitors from Indonesia will bring a wide variety of plywood, block board and panels made from Balsa, Jabon and Albasia to the world-leading trade fair for furniture production and interior design, held from May 20th to 23rd in Cologne. Tests by the Development- and Test Laboratory Wood Technology Ltd. (EPH) in Dresden prove: the typical light-weight wood species from Indonesia are an interesting alternative to classical wood products. The Import Promotion Desk (IPD), the German partner for import promotion, supports four Indonesian producers at the interzum and presents the special quality of Indonesian light wood products (Hall 4.2./Booth A070 B071).

[Translate to Englisch NEU:] IPD präsetniert Leichtholzprodukten aus Indonesien
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Pressemeldung: Leichtholz-Produkte aus Indonesien
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Bonn/Berlin // 29.01.2019
ITB 2019: A wide range of offers for sustainable tourism
 
Bonn/Berlin // 29.01.2019

ITB 2019: A wide range of offers for sustainable tourism

The Import Promotion Desk (IPD) introduces Ecuador as a nature destination with potential

Bonn/Berlin, 29.01.2019 – Volcanic mountain landscapes, wide beaches, the original Amazon region with its indigenous peoples, the city of Cuenca, certified by “TourCert” as the first sustainable destination of Latin America, and the well-known Galapagos Islands – with its diverse travel destinations, Ecuador’s country pavilion surprises at ITB 2019. The Import Promotion Desk (IPD), the German partner for sustainable tourism, will be represented for the first time at the leading trade fair for international tourism industry, which takes place from the 6th to the 10th of march in Berlin. The IPD is expanding its activities to the tourism sector and supports tourism professionals from developing and emerging countries in presenting their travel offers on the EU market and linking up with tour operators.

Press Release: IPD at ITB 2019
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Ecuador auf der ITB 2019: Vielfältiges Angebot für den nachhaltigen Tourismus
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more news

Events

Buying missions // Dates on request
Buying missions – individually organised to your requirements
 
Buying missions // Dates on request

Buying missions – individually organised to your requirements

Lower your sourcing costs!

Are you looking for a specific product? And you don’t know yet from where, from whom?
You are interested in importing products from Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal, Peru, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia or Tunisia? But you lack contacts to suitable exporters?
Finding reliable suppliers takes time and costs money.

The IPD supports you to reduce this effort and opens up new foreign supply sources.
We organize buying missions individually arranged for you – fully tailored to your needs.

You tell us your demands. We identify suitable exporters in our partner countries and
arrange – in consultation with you –  visits to carefully selected companies.

All suppliers are visited by us in advance and evaluated according to strict criteria, including product quality, export capacities, compliance with international standards and certifications etc.  

Your benefits:
•    Direct contact to thoroughly tested exporters – selected according to your requirements
•    Inspection of product quality and production conditions directly on the spot.
•    Tailored-made b2b meetings.

Take advantage of our offer. Save time and reduce your risk!
We look forward to providing you with detailed information about our services.

Get in touch with us!

Trade fair in Cologne // 01.09. - 03.09.2019
spoga+gafa 2019
 
Trade fair in Cologne // 01.09. - 03.09.2019

spoga+gafa 2019

New timber producers from Ecuador and Colombia at spoga+gafa
Meet reliable suppliers of garden furniture and floor coverings made of bamboo and teak!

This year IPD will be represented with its own booth at the international garden trade fair spoga+gafa. It will introduce carefully selected suppliers from Ecuador and Colombia to the EU market. These reliable producers will showcase their high-quality garden furniture and floor coverings made of bamboo and plantation teak. The timer is from sustainable forestry.

All suppliers have been pre-selected by IPD based on company visits, product quality, capability and capacity for export, as well as access to and use of legal timber from sustainable sources.

Get directly connected with our partner companies – we support you and will be happy to arrange individual b2b meetings.

Detailed information on the companies will be available here in August.

For more information or any further questions, please contact us:

Frank Maul

www.spoga.com

Trade fair in Quito/Ecuador // 18.09. - 20.092019
TravelMart LatinAmerica 2019
 
Trade fair in Quito/Ecuador // 18.09. - 20.092019

TravelMart LatinAmerica 2019

Ecuador - a travel destination with a lot of potential

Ecuador has a large variety of touristic attractions to offer nature lovers – walking and hiking tours in the breathtaking heights of the Andes, safaris in the Amazon jungle, or expeditions to the Galapagos Islands. Madrid.

IPD presents new travel suppliers from Ecuador at the tourism fair "TravelMart LatinAmerica" in Quito/Ecuador.

The companies present a wide range of services, such as:

  • Cultural experience trips in the Ecuadorean cloud forest, living amongst the indigenous population and sharing in their everyday life
  • Community-based offers as well as cultural and educational trips
  • Barrier-free travel offers to the natural landscapes of the Amazon region, e.g. individual tours in wheelchairs

In designing their offers, our partners give attention to sustainability and especially on the needs of European tourists. All providers have been carefully examined and have been trained on the requirements of the EU travel market.

For further information or questions please contact:

Nora Eichkorn

travelmartlatinamerica.com

more events

Publications

Success Story
Pure oils from Ethiopian medicinal plants
 
Success Story

Pure oils from Ethiopian medicinal plants

Import Promotion Desk makes EU market accessible for African producers

With support from the IPD, Ethiopian company Hayat Cosmo Industry PLC was able to present its products from pure black cumin oil at European trade fairs. The trade fair success encouraged Hayat to expand its offerings to European customers, so that the company now also produces essential oils. Investment in the new product developments has paid off for the Ethiopian company: At in-cosmetics trade fair in Paris, Hayat successfully presented its new product range for the first time.

Pure oils from Ethiopia
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Naturreine Öle aus Äthiopien
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Success Story
Tropical timber from sustainably managed forests
 
Success Story

Tropical timber from sustainably managed forests

IPD OPENS UP NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERUVIAN TIMBER EXPORTERS ON THE EU MARKET

The tropical rainforest is at risk from overexploitation and fire clearance, and this has brought trading in tropical timber into disrepute. Timber companies from countries like Peru therefore encounter difficulties in exporting their tropical wood products to the EU market. They are supported by the Import Promotion Desk (IPD), the precondition being that their timber is verifiably sourced from legal and sustainable forestry. Maderacre Rio Acre SAC is a company that meets the criteria of the FSC, demonstrating in practice that responsible forest management can help to protect the rainforest.

IPD Success Story Tropical timber
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IPD Success Story_Tropenholz aus nachhaltiger Waldwirtschaft
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Success Story
GIZ and IPD collaboration in Nepal bearing fruit
 
Success Story

GIZ and IPD collaboration in Nepal bearing fruit

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EXPORT PROMOTION

Within the framework of the “Nepal Trade Integration Strategy” GIZ and the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) are supporting a model project promoting the export of medicinal and aromatic plants. The project shows how specific sectoral support can help establish efficient value creation chains and enable Nepalese firms direct access to the German trade market. The half-time evaluation of the export promotion programme in Nepal showed that in 2016 alone Nepalese producers exported to the EU medicinal plant products worth 1.2 million Euros.

GIZ and IPD collaboration in Nepal bearing fruit
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Zusammenarbeit von GIZ und IPD in Nepal trägt Früchte
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